84 – Anglo-French Yuri War
"Ah! Shirou-Senpai!"
"Hey! Shirou."
It was Gudako and Artoria walking over.
"As expected of Shirou-Senpai! You already found Jeanne and even got on good terms with her!"
Gudako exclaimed with surprise and admiration, looking at the boy with respect—the very person she wished to entrust her life to.
"Oh, so you really came too, Gudako, Master of Chaldea. Looks like you managed to keep your life, Shirou," Jeanne confirmed the girl's identity and, with a twisted smile, turned to Shirou and said teasingly.
"Well, thank you so much for your generous mercy," Shirou replied casually.
"Shirou, what's with that dumb woman next to you?" Artoria glared with her golden eyes, seemingly irritated, and asked in a demanding tone.
"Ah, Artoria, she's also—" Shirou tried to explain, but the silver-haired girl cut him off.
"…So it was you. You cold-blooded woman actually came too? Weren't we supposed to stay out of each other's business?!" Jeanne stepped forward, shielding Shirou behind her and yelling in anger.
"Oh ho… acting like a dog guarding its food.
But aren't you mistaken about who you're guarding?
Shirou is my Master—we already formed our contract long ago. You're in the way. Get lost!" Artoria shot back.
"Master? Shirou is my Master! We just formed our contract!" Jeanne retorted.
"How shameless.
A mere headstrong charge-happy woman, putting on the act of a beaten dog to try and win my Master's sympathy? Stay away from Shirou!" Artoria said, reaching to pull Shirou to her side.
"Hey! You cold-blooded woman! I formed a contract with Shirou too! Why should I listen to you?!" Jeanne clung tightly to Shirou's shoulder, refusing to let go.
"Artoria, Jeanne, calm down. You're both allies on the same side, right? Let's all get along," Shirou tried to mediate.
"Shirou… get along? With this person? I've never once considered her an ally!"
"Shirou, are you kidding me? Get along with this cold-blooded woman?
Just look at her—she's turned all black, yet still insists on carrying a holy sword.
That taste makes me want to puke. I'm already at my limit just tolerating her."
"French bumpkins really are crude and rude!"
"And the British nouveau riche king thinks she's all that?"
"Hoh!"
"Hah!"
Artoria and Jeanne locked eyes, sparks seemingly crackling between them.
"If this was a normal Holy Grail War and not this kind of world, you'd be the first one I'd cut down," Artoria Alter sneered, raising her holy sword.
"What a coincidence. I was thinking the same thing. If you want to fight, why pick the place? I'll just kill you here and now," Jeanne Alter grinned wickedly and raised her flag-lance.
The two girls clashed immediately.
Sword and spear collided in midair, creating sparks that filled the air.
The golden-haired girl, a king symbolizing victory, wielded her holy sword with battle-hardened skill refined through countless battles.
The silver-haired girl inherited the techniques of fortress-like defensive warfare that once led France to multiple victories against overwhelming odds, reclaiming lost cities, and never taking a single wound on the battlefield.
The fight was dead even.
"Humhahaha! You two really get along well, huh? But let's save this match for after we defeat the Phantom Demon Alliance. Now that we've gathered enough power, let's discuss how to strike back," the bearded man suddenly stepped out, laughing loudly.
"Who the hell 'gets along well' with this cold-blooded woman (charge-happy freak)!!"
The flash of sword and a burst of flame flew straight toward the bearded man.
"Whoa, that was close!" He quickly backed away, patting down his almost-burning clothes in alarm.
"Ah! I remember now—it was you, you bastard!" Jeanne recognized the Shinjuku Archer and, furious, lunged forward with her lance.
"Wait, wait! Sure, I did barge into your territory, but is the grudge really that deep?" the man dodged furiously as he backpedaled.
"Grudge?! I'm here to pay you back for that sudden kick to the stomach that sent me flying! Everything that's happened these past days has been absolute garbage… now I'll return the favor with interest!"
The silver-haired girl had been summoned to this world, refused to join the Phantom Demon Alliance, and parted ways with the incompatible King of Knights.
Her tendency to set things on fire when irritated made her a threat in the eyes of the Alliance's leader, who deemed her unstable and ordered large forces to hunt her down.
Being straightforward by nature, she naturally fought back immediately against the threats from the Alliance… and thus got relentlessly hunted.
To escape the pursuit, she had been fleeing through Shinjuku's underground passages for days.
No matter where she ran, ambushes awaited.
She had no time to rest or even catch her breath—driven to the edge of madness.
Eventually, she was caught by the Archer-class Servant summoned by the enemy.
A dark-haired Archer dressed in black, wielding a white bow engulfed in deep blue flames, whose magical energy far exceeded hers.
Every arrow he fired burst with explosive firepower, moving so fast they were almost invisible.
Jeanne barely managed to block the attacks using her fortress-like defensive technique.
But her opponent was a monster who simply wouldn't die. Even setting him on fire was useless—the disgusting black mud oozing from his body would just heal the damage.
Pushed to the brink, she had no choice.
Jeanne decided to unleash her final Noble Phantasm—if she was going down, she would take him with her.
Her Noble Phantasm summoned the flames that had once burned the holy maiden Jeanne d'Arc to death.
Using her cursed flag, she converted the surrounding grudges and her own body into magical energy, igniting it all in a blazing inferno meant to burn her enemy to the bone.
Though she was a creation of the Holy Grail—a rootless, drifting illusion, like foam—she had never truly felt the pain of being burned alive like the real Jeanne had.
The fire she summoned was the most agonizing and scorching she could imagine.
But as an Avenger-class Servant, the embodiment of hatred and resentment, holding eternal grudges and bottomless emptiness, her inferno of wrath and despair was no laughing matter.
Jeanne was confident that she could destroy that disgusting black-mud Heroic Spirit.
But at the final moment, her enemy erupted in blue flames and escaped at many times the speed of sound.
Drained of all magical energy, Jeanne collapsed in shame on the street—and that's when she met Shirou.
In the end, things didn't turn out so bad.
"Hmm… even if it's not bad, that doesn't mean I've decided it's a good thing either!" Jeanne thought, glaring fiercely at Shirou.
"?" Shirou, noticing her glare, looked at the girl in confusion.
Jeanne turned away and refused to meet his eyes again.
The worst part was that damned cold-blooded woman had seen her in that state.
Just thinking about it made her blood boil!
Nothing could be more humiliating.